A World Of Nightmares
by I heart the Hitachiin twins
Summary: When Rocket is stung by a alien bug he is sent into a 24 hr sleep plagued with nightmares of his past. Only able to whach as he writhes and screams will the guardians of the galaxy survive the day?
1. Chapter 1

**Authors note: Okay, it's my first fic, so plz be nice. I know it's kinda weird to start with something so new but I've seen it four times now and am officially a fangirl, I mean how can you not love a trigger-happy, badass, talking raccoon, a talking tree, a 90's obsessed human, green assassin and a psychotic maniac bent on revenge who is completely clueless when it comes to metaphors and sarcasm? Kay, Back the story, is multi - chapter, but I made the first one quite short. If you all want more I'll update with something longer. Read and review!**

A world of nightmares The guardians of galaxy were just finishing up their latest mission, clearing up a swarm of aliens that looked ike wasps, stung like them too."Whatever you do," Nova Prime had said, "Don't let them sting you." They had been careful and eventually there were only four left. Rocket had taken on two, no one knew why, there were enough of them for them all to take one. Who knows, maybe he was pissed. Drax and Gamora had been having trouble though. The two were very physical fighters. Drax refused to use a gun at all, claiming it was the weapon of a coward, only in the most dire of situations would he consider using one. But when you couldn't get close to your enemy, it was hard to fight with knives. It also didn't help none of them could fly.

"Drax, heads up!" Peter (AKA Starlord) called. "You wish me to lift my head?" Drax asked, confused. "Metaphor, look out!" There was a huge wasp, that had somehow gotten away from Gamora, headed towards him. He prepared for pain but was simply splattered with green goo. Rockets gun was still smoking from shooting the wasp only inches from Drax. "Thank you little comrade!" He called turning away. "Heh, learn to take care of yourself you walking thesAHHH!" He yelled out in pain as one of the wasps he was trying to shoot down saw its chance and dived, stinging him at the base of his neck. "ROCKET!" Quill yelled as the raccoon slumped to the ground. Unconscious and unmoving.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey all! Welcome to World Of Nightmares chapter 2! Thanks to everyone who has responded and followed and an extra special shout out to ninjadino721 who was my first revewer! This one will be what the guardians see. Then next chapter we get to see some ROCKET NIGHTMARES! R&R!**

**Disclaimer: All rights and characters go to Marvel 'sept the plot and waspy thingys. Those 're mine.**

Peter quickly shot the remaining wasp (the one that had stung Rocket had died when the stinger was removed.) And ran over to Rocket. The raccoon was still and barely breathing. "F*ck, this is bad! This is really really f*cking bad!" Drax and Gamora had come to Peter's side and was eying their furry companion. "What happened?" The green assasin asked, struggling to keep the worry out of her voice, "What's wrong with him?"

"I dunno 'Mora, I think he got stung or somethin'." Peter replied. "Rocket? Rocket! Can you hear me?" The raccoon was unresponsive. "Perhaps we should tell Nova Prime?" Drax asked, "It is possible that she will know something that will help." Peter and Gamora nodded and as soon as Peter had scooped up the cybernetic animal they headed towards the Milano.

Apon arrival they got a welcoming "I am Groot!" From the corner that quickly turned frantic and questioning when Groot saw the limp raccoon in Peter's arms. He was recovering nicely from the crash and was almost twice the size of Rocket. The trigger-happy rodent had insisted that he not fight until he was fully grown. Groot had protested but the stubborn raccoon had stood his ground and eventually gotten his way. Mabey if Groot had come along this wouldn't have happened. Peter did not speak 'Groot' as well as Rocket but he assumed that he wanted to know what happened he set Rocket down as he explained, "He got stung by a wasp/alien thingy. We don't know why he's out." "The raccoon is not outside! He is here." Said Drax. "It's slang, Drax. It means he's unconscious." Gamora said as she entered. Peter went to go call Nova, leaving the two green aliens to argue.

Nova Prime was filling out a form when she was alerted to a call, annoyed at being called away from her work she opened the call without looking at who it was and snapped "And to who am I talking to?" "Err, Peter Quill?"

"Oh"

"About those wasp aliens, what do the stingers do?"

"Ah, one of you got stung did you?"

"Yeah."

"I did warn you, oh well. It's got a low level poison in it, if you get stung you will be sent into an almost deathlike sleep. They will wake up in around 3 hours." She explained. "Just out of curiosity, who was it?" Peter sighed, "Rocket." Nova Prime paused at that. "Err, than it may be a little while longer than 3 hours..." "What do you mean?" Peter asked, fearing the worst. "Due to his small body size it might be more like 24 hours." She replied, "Oh, and one more thing, There's a neurotoxin in the poison that causes terrifying nightm..." She was cut of by a animalistic, terrified, earsplitting shriek.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello! Well you asked for it, you reviewed and so you get it! Welcome to chapter 3 of World Of Nightmares! The story where I give Rocky an unbelievably hard time. Hope you all enjoy while I have to put up with an annoyed Rocket muse who I can't say no to.**

**Disclaimer: All rights go to Marvel but if I did own them I would never leave their sides, ever...**

Rocket woke to bright lights, what happened? And where was he? This certainly did not look like the Milano... The he noticed the shadows swimming just outside his field of vision. He tried to open his mouth to speak, only to find that he was muzzled. MUZZLED! He hadn't worn a muzzle since... Oh no. He tried to lift his wrists and ankles to be met with leather straps that dug into his skin. Panic rose like bile in his throat as he began to squirm trying desperately to slip the restraints, until he heard a familiar voice. Peter? Was he here to bail him out? But it was not to be, his rising hopes were shattered when he made out what Peter was saying. "Come on, we don't have all day! Pay for the little freak already so we can leave!"

Rocket felt like he'd been punched in the gut. They had sold him? To half-world? They were just gonna leave him here with them? Speak of the devil... The white coats had slunk in while he had been distracted. "It's vitals seem to be clear, but I propose that we perform a proper check." One white coat said off to the side of him. Lifting a needle and a surgical tool that looked very, very sharp. "Now hold still," They continued, "It's easier that way." He felt the knife like object slice across his belly, the muzzle biting into his snout as he tried to open it wide enough to scream.

After what seemed like a lifetime of pain and way to much blood, they had finished setting the stitches. "We will need to wait an hour for the wound to harden." One said "till then, lunch is o me!" They all left, leaving the raccoon sore, whimpering and wishing that procedure had been deadly.

The white coats came back all to soon, much to Rocket's surprise they removed the muzzle. "We need you to speak so that can analyse your vocal patterns." One explained as if reading his mind. He grimaced, this was his least favourite part...


	4. Chapter 4

Hey! As always, welcome to the next chapter of World Of Nightmares! You're all awesome for following the story!

Rocket muse: Just get to the story already!

Me: Okay! Okay! God, if I could actually bring myself to hurt you, you would be a fur coat!

Rocket muse: But you won't.

Me: I know... :(

Rocket muse: Since IHTHT is wallowing in self pity, she doesn't own me, nor does she own the rest of us.

Me: *Whimpers*

Drax was concerned, it had been two hours since Peter had called Nova Prime, and Rocket hadn't stopped screaming! There had been a breif point where he had stopped and whimpered softly, only to continue louder than before. The ship seemed very odd with the absence of the constant clanking of metal and sarcastic remarks of the talking raccoon. Gamora had taken Peter and Groot to the bar on the planet nearby. Unusual behaviour for her, but she (like the rest of them) wanted to escape the ship where the small animal's screams echoed off the walls.

They had thought that someone should stay witb Rocket, just in case. Drax had volunteered, not really feeling like this was an appropriate time to get drunk. He was beginning to regret his decision. It was unnerving, this whole cursed situation was terrifying and upsetting. The raccoon had been struggling and wriggling the whole time, but his wrists and ankles had remained firmly on the table as if held down by invisible restraints. Drax wasn't sure whether he wanted Rocket to stop screaming or not. If he didn't, the torturous sound would continue. If he did, he would look, well, dead. The raccoon's screams had been growing steadily weaker and now the animal was barley breathing, and without the screams and struggles the raccoon would look like a corpse. An unsettling thought, Drax found himself thinking. Then he remembered something. Something Rocket had said when he thought he had nothing left to lose.

"Ah, what the hell, I don't have that long a lifespan anyway."

The realisation hit Drax like a ton of bricks, how long would it be until he really did see the foul mouthed raccoon's corpse, and how will it have happened? Would said corpse be riddled with bullet holes? Disected? Or would old age simply take his friend? Thinking about this while seeing him like this was making him feel that he would be saying goodbye to the raccoon much to soon. Nova Prime had said that this experience would not kill the creature, but was it true? Rocket was always saying that he was one of a kind, how would she be able to determine the outcome of this incident? He hoped it wouldn't be the cause of Rocket's death, because if it was, it would have been his fault.

If he had been more careful he would have killed the wasp attacking him. If he had killed that bug Rocket wouldn't have had to shoot it. If Rocket hadn't had to shoot it he would never had turned away from his own fight. If he hadn't turned away he wouldn't have let his guard down. If he hadn't let his guard down he wouldn't have been stung. In the end, it was all Drax's fault. He was ripped from hid musings by another pain filled scream from the raccoon. "I'm so sorry, Rocket." He whispered, using the animal's name for the first time, Rocket not even being conscious to hear it.

Author's note part 2:

Well, that was depressing! I feel like Drax would probably feel guilty about all this. But anyway, I was actually thinking of having a fic about all five of the GOTG musing over the fact that they will all outlive Rocket if narrowed down to natural causes. I'll leave it up to you, leave your opinion as a review and if enough of you want it, I'll write it. I feel like I rambled a bit today but, oh well! Please review, I powder them and use them on a potion that cures writer's block.

See ya!

-IHTHT


	5. Chapter 5

Hello and welcome to World Of Nightmares chapter 5! Thanks to all the fantastic people who are reviewing, favoriting and following, really appreciate it guys! Special shout out to 'Peace Like A River' and 'Janazza' for all the fantastic advice. I'll probaby start on the new story mentioned in the last chapter after I've finished with this. Anyway, enjoy!

Disclaimer, I don't own the Guardians of the Galaxy, sniffle...

Rocket groaned softly. He wanted to yell and moan, but there was nowhere near enough air in his lungs to even try. Exhaustion had begun to hit him, but there would be a cold day in hell before they let him sleep. Every time he got to the point where he could drift off they zapped him, not enough to damage the cybernetics, but easily enough to hurt. He wanted so badly to be blissfully oblivious to his hellish surroundings, or better yet, to simply die here on this table and leave this nightmare of a life behind him.

He had tried to get out, sprung from the arms of a unsuspecting White Coat and headed for the door. The doorknob had seemed a million miles off the floor and when he finally reached it had turned and turned and turned, he must have twisted it about thirty times before a White Coat had come up behind him and picked him up by the scruff of his neck. The White Coat had then twisted the doorknob, it had opened easily, revealing a dark, black, void. The White Coat holding him had given him a terrifying, maniacal, nightmarish grin that would have put the devil to shame before roughly throwing him in. He had fell for what felt like years before he landed on something hard, he had opened his eyes to see the very same operating table he had been on before.

He had glanced up wearily when a large group of White Coats had come in hauling what looked like a pile of sticks. "It tried to get in." A female White Coat reported to what must have been her boss, "Was a very powerful creature, we had to kill it."

"What a shame." Said the male she was talking to. "I've never seen anything like it." And they stepped away to reveal the lifeless, mangled, broken body of... "Groot..." Rocket managed to whisper horcely, terror rising and filling every part of his brain. "Groot, why are you... Come on, you can't be... You shouldn't even..." The words choked in his throat as he looked at his dead friend. He wasn't gone, he couldn't be gone! Not Groot! Not Groot, who could grow back limbs in a matter of hours, who could come back from being blown to bits, how was it even possible to kill him? Tears leaked out of his eyes as he struggled against the restraints holding him down. He had to get to him! Mabey there was still time? His efforts were futile however, the leather straps cutting his skin as he cried and struggled. "Groot? Groot, Groot! Please, no! Please god, no! GROOT!"

The White Coats ignored his cried as they dragged the Flora Cullosus through the one door, that seemed to go everywhere yet nowhere, and a burst of yellow light indicated that something had been thrown in the incinerator. "GROOT!"

Author's Note part 2.

I know, I know... But I figured that it wouldn't be a proper nightmare untill Groot had died. I'm not sure how they did it, I figure it takes lots to actually kill Groot, but I needed him to be recognisable.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello and welcome to World Of Nightmares chapter 6! I threw in a couple of references to a bunch of random things, comment if you get them! Now forgive me but... Wow! Six chapters! I'm amazing!**

**Rocket muse: And modest.**

**Me: Yeah, nah!**

**Rocket muse: Your an idiot.**

**Me: I know!**

**Rocket muse: *Growls and shakes head* I honestly don't know how you got any views, all you write about is me getting hurt!**

**Me: Aww... But Rocky...**

**Rocket muse: ...**

**Me: Okay... I don't own the Guardians of the Galaxy... I want to though.**

**Rocket muse: Like that will ever happen...**

**Me: *Whimpers***

Gamora had been at the Five Broomsticks bar for about half an hour and was beginning to get bored, she was now watching a(surprisingly still sober) Peter drum his fingers in time to his ever present music. It was the only entertainment she had to guess the song that was playing by listening to the dull thumping of his fingers on the table. Groot was just sitting there looking worried. The bar was pretty empty aside from a pudgy, blue nutcase in a beanie and overalls behind her who kept muttering about boxes. She didn't want to go back to the Milano, where there were terrible sounds echoing the halls, however they needed to keep moving. "Come on," She said, pulling herself from her chair. "We better go."

Upon arrival they immediately noticed the lack of noise. This concerned them and they headed off, full speed to where they hoped Drax and Rocket still were. They found Drax asleep on a chair next to the table the raccoon was on. He wasn't screaming anymore and only sign he was still alive was his shivering and the occasional twitch. His tail was wrapped around his belly as if it could create some sort of shield between him and his dream demons. It was silent until... "Groot..." Rocket moaned softly. "No, please no... Not him, please not him!" Gamora felt lost, what was going on in the little creature's head? Groot scrambled up on to the table and held his friend's paw gently looking sad and helpless as he tried to comfort him to no avail. Peter stood awkwardly beside her, watching the scene unfold with sad eyes. "This has to be the longest day in the history of days." He remarked, although it lacked his usual mocking tone.

It was sad seeing the usually fearless animal look so scared, so in pain. Gamora felt like her heart was being torn, her lungs squeezed. He had stopped thrashing but had begun to mutter odd disjointed words such as 'traitors idiots' and 'white coated monsters'. What he was referring to, she didn't (and probably didn't want to) know. She stared out the window into the infinite cosmos. There were a couple of ships passing by like a large orange one with five compartments, and inside was a bizarre team. A green boy, a man with dark skin who appeared to be half robot, a pale girl in a purple cloak, an alien she recognised to be a Tamarainian and a Terran boy who was dressed in green, red and yellow. She peeled her gaze away from the odd travelling companions, she had her own teammate to worry about...

**Author's note part 2**

**Wahhh! Its short I know but I've got writers block! Yeah, point out any references you get. There are only 3 though. :( If there is anything you want to see in the story from someone's pov to a idea for a nightmare please let me know! Thanks! Plz review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi! Welcome to World Of Nightmares chapter 7! For all of yal who didn't recognise the easter eggs I threw in the last chapter there was:**

**The Five Broomsticks = The 3 Broomsticks from Harry Potter.**

**The blue box guy was the box ghost from Danny Phantom.**

**The team in the orange ship were the Teen Titans.**

**Anyway, I'm thinking of wrapping this story up soon.**

**Rocket muse: Thank god!**

**Me: Hold on Rocky! Don't think I'm done with you just yet.**

**Rocket muse: Awww...**

**Me: Aww, come on Rocket I'm not that bad! Anyway, if their's anything anyone wants to see for pretty much any fic, this one or just an idea, I would love to hear! Shout out to ninjadino721 for giving me the idea for the little panic attack. Please review, it makes me feel special! :3**

**Disclaimer: I don't own GOTG, but if I did Rocky would be cuddled!**

Peter looked at Rocket, the small, quivering animal on his table, and sighed. He felt so useless! They all did. When they had heard Rocket in that bar, his words slurred by drink, crying to no one in particular that he was a monster they had taken a silent vow that if they did end up surviving the ordeal with Ronan they would at least help him realise that he wasn't a freak. Yeah, because that was going so well.

Suddenly Rocket jackknifed into sitting position. Peter yelled out, both in surprise and joy. "Rocket! Guys! Rocket's up!" He called over his shoulder. Then he saw something wrong. His eyes were wide and scared, almost animalistic. Just then Drax, Gamora and Groot tumbled in. "Rocket! You're alright!" Gamora exclaimed happily. Rocket didn't reply. He simply stared with that terrified look in his eye. "Rocket?" Drax asked "I am Groot." Groot commented. Peter guessed that meant there was something wrong. "Rocket? Whats wrong?" He asked, reaching out towards the frightened animal. Rocket suddenly lashed out at Peter's outstretched arm, raking his claws through the terran's flesh.

**Author's note part 2**

**I know I haven't done anything in Groot's point of view but whenever I do it doesn't do him justice so I need to hone my skills.**

**P.S: Yeah, it's short. I have had so much writers block. Will do next chappie Rocket POV which is easier to write.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello! Welcome to the final chapter of World Of Nightmares! I'm kinda sad...**

**Rocket muse: I'm not!**

**Me: You're just grumpy because the first thing I ever wrote was a whump about you. Anyway, sorry this took so long but my internet failed me. Hey! Rocky, you could have fixed it!**

**Rocket muse: Sigh, how do I fend off fangirls? Any advice?**

**Me: Nope! X3**

**Disclaimer: Do I really have to say it?**

Rocket opened his eyes to see a figure looming over him, that was nothing new, but that doesn't matter because... He twitches his wrists just to make sure, YES! He's free! He jolted into sitting position when he realised that the plan was not very well thought out. The figure, now joined by others, reached out. In a frenzied panic he lashed out, his claws gleaming in the artificial light, and raked them down the arm of the nearest person. The scent of blood filled the air, but it wasn't his, so he didn't care. He bolted of the table, dropping onto all fours for the benefit of speed. He crawled up an air duct and wriggled to the engine room without much trouble. Engine room? Hmm, must be a mobile lab or something. He then heard shouting and a door opening followed by another and another, they were looking for him. He whimpered and crawled into a corner curling up into a ball as tight as he could, as if it could turn him invisible. Then he prayed that the monsters didn't find him...

xXPeter's point of viewXx

Peter looked at the thin red scratches on his arm. Wow, Rocket had done some damage. The wound was frantic and shallow, but it was big. It went from the middle of his upper arm all the way to his wrists. He wrapped it in bandages quickly, then joined his team mates in the search. They had to find him. Rocket could do some serious damage to the ship and himself in this state. It wouldn't take long, it was a small ship. The only problem would be calming him down without being scratched to ribbons...

xX Drax's Point of view Xx

Drax was worried for Rocket. Despite all the racconoid's threats to 'shoot them if they did that again' or 'Plant a bomb on this flarkin' ship', he would never hurt his friends on purpose. There was obviously something going on. Regardless of that, finding the beast was proving tricky. He had left through an air vent so determining where he was was almost impossible, he wasn't even sure if Rocket had even left the vents yet. There was only one way to check, the old fashioned method of looking in every room til they found him...

xX Gamora's point of view Xx

Gamora wandered the rooms aimlessly. She'd checked every room she could access. Now she was reduced to pacing around worrying. To pass the time she tried to recall the places she hadn't checked. Rocket's room, annoying as he was the only one that could open it. Although Quill had a master key Rocket had easily override his lock so it wouldn't accept it anymore. The only way in was to break the door down, which she was pretty sure neither Rocket nor Quill would appreciate much. There was also the pantry, which had been locked with a passcode curtsey of Rocket who was tired of having to sniff out space-rats to Peter's request, however only he and Peter know the password. And finally the engine room. Rocket spent so much time in there Pete had locked it, not that that stopped the stubborn racoon from getting in... "Quill!" She called excitedly, "Get the master key, I know where he's hiding!"

xX Groot's point of view Xx

Groot headed down to the engine room, he knew this was where his friend would be. Scratching on the other side of the door confirmed his suspicions. Even in his small state he was able to rip the door clear of it's hinges. Tossing the metal to one side he slowly walked into the warm room and looked around. There he was. In the corner curled up in his 'scared position', the racoon had many different positions for different emotions but this wasn't one Groot saw often. He reached out and held his friend, not caring how many twigs and parts Rocket broke as he scrambled in panic. Groot held him still, despite the hisses and... Colourful language.

Eventually the small creatures struggles stopped and he blinked slowly. "Groot?" Rocket asked confused, he then noted the scratches on the bark and twigs on the floor and it clicked. "Groot, I'm... I mean... Sorry old pal." Groot smiled and held his friend closer. Rocket leaned into the friendly touch and soon was relaxing in a half asleep dose. 'He may look strong but he needs us if he's going to get over half-world' Groot thought 'We need this crazy band of misfits as Peter called it, because...' "We are Groot" he said softly. Rocket laughed and said, "Yeah, you big sap." Drax, Peter and Gamora came into the engine room to hear an indignant "I am GROOT!" And the cackling of a (finally) gleeful cybernetic racoon.


End file.
